Posted on 10/20/2006 7:04:56 PM PDT by LS
This is not intended as a full-scale review, just some impressions from seeing the movie tonight.
First, as you likely know, it deals with the three men (a Navy corpsman and two Marines) of the six flag raisers who survived Iwo Jima. Clint Eastwood directed this pic, which traces the first flag-raising---which, of course, was thought to be "the" flag-raising---then the second, captured for all time in Joe Rosenthal's photo. The main plot line is that the nation was broke, and would have to sue for peace with the Japanese (right) if we didn't generate more money, quickly, through war bond sales. So these three men were dragooned into doing war bond tours, even to the point of re-enacting their "charge" up Suribachi and their flag-raising.
Second, Eastwood jumps back and forth between time frames---the bond tour, combat on Iwo Jima---that it's extremely difficult to follow. Despite taking time on the ship to try to set the characters of those other than the three main characters (Ira Hayes, Rene Gagnon, and John Bradley), the grittiness of war makes the men look so much alike that, well, it's hard to identify with any particular characters---at least, it was for me.
The main theme of the movie is guilt: the guilt felt by the flag-raisers for their buddies who didn't survive, guilt on Gagnon's part for "only" being a runner, guilt on Hayes's part for only firing his weapon a few times. Eastwood drives home the difficulty of bearing the label "hero," especially when one hasn't done anything particularly outstanding, except for surviving. While he does try, through the War Department representative, to grapple with the public's need for heroes---men who can symbolize what the others went through---Eastwood never quite gets there. Torn between trying to depict the carnage and mayhem of war and the importance of living icons with which to identify, Eastwood comes up a little short in each.
The final lines of the movie repeat the refrain from "Black Hawk Down," "Saving Private Ryan," and other recent war movies: Ultimately, they fought for each other, not for a cause or a country. Perhaps some did, but I find it hard to believe that so many millions of men signed up just to fight for each other.
Moreover, while the photo did capture the public's imagination, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that we would win the Pacific eventually; and in February 1945, with Nazi Germany collapsing, the Bulge pocket pushed back out, and American armies pushing into Germany, to suggest that Americans were about to "give up" if we hadn't gotten a miraculous photo is utter nonsense.
In short, I was disappointed only because I expected a lot more.
In Vietnam, 2/3 of the soldiers VOLUNTEERED. While some did it for thrills, many did it for the IDEA of liberty.
And surveys show that our troops in Iraq fully understand the ideas for which they fight---as well as "each other."
I just think Clint fell victim to a current "theology" in Hollywood that diminishes the role of ideas in human motivation.
In "Flags," honestly, I was not moved as the different "buddies" were dying off, because they had all come to look alike, and therefore you really didn't know any of them.
Moral equivalence was not something I peceived in the book. The primary thing I got from the book was a greater awareness of the utter savagery exhibited by the Japanese. Another book that established that point for me was "The Rape of Nanking" (I have forgotten that author's name. A woman who subsequently committed suicide). Both books made me ponder why the Japanese forces were so utterly barbaric, even compared to German forces. The only conclusion I could come to was that German culture, even in the throughs of Naziism had a vestige of Christianity, whereas Japanese culture did not.
2/3 of those who fought in Vietnam were volunteers. While some may have craved action, most fought for an idea---liberty.
Exactly. We could have inflated all we wanted because all prices were frozen, but it's better to have bonds that get people directly involved in the war effort.
Good comments. When I was in the Oval Office in August, and spent time with the Pres., he was strongly taken with the role of Churchill in WW II and the ability, even necessity, of one man facing the onslaught, regardless of cost to his own reputation or "legacy."
Inteviewers of Matt Crouch have asked him 'how could this be' he said Christians are a family and we support each other.
On Band of Brothers, they interviewed one of the real-life members of Easy Company, who pointed out that several men from his hometown actually committed suicide because they were not allowed to serve in the military.
It was a different time.
Can't disagree with anything you wrote. The scenes of the fleet blasting the island were awesome, and Iwo and Okinawa were precisely why we dropped the a-bombs. Victor Hanson, in "Ripples of Battle," points out that if we had taken Okinawa with fairly light casualties, there might have been real opposition/hesitation about dropping the bomb.
See my comment #81 below.
I agree with you wholeheartedly. I said from 9/12 that Bush missed an opportunity to unite the whole country for the duration. The "love your neighbor" stuff, and "keep participating in the economy" was lame.
I actually didn't care for "1776." I kept saying, "Where's the beef? Why did so many people buy this?" I'd suggest, for the same topic but much better written, "Washington's Crossing," by David Hackett Fischer.
I get your point, but trust me, the "Nativity" movie may well be THE sleeper of the year. It has that "Passion of the Christ" magic, with a less grueling story line.
I stopped seeing R movies.
Remember, Nimitz and MacArthur operated on a mere 20% of all U.S. military resources, and that was AFTER Manhattan Project skimmed off the top.
Good. Let me also suggest a book called "The Knights of Bushido," which deals extensively with the horror-torture of POWs in China.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsuo_Fuchida
Thanks, I looked him up. I recall reading about a Japanese Christian, while dying of radiation poisoning from the a-bomb attack, converting other Japanese to Christianity. He explained that the suffering of innocence is what converts men's hearts. Nagasaki was Japan's largest Christian community. Much of its history is underground secrecy while remaining faithful to Christ, yet obedient to secular authority.
http://satucket.com/lectionary/Japan_martyrs.htm
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